Since Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4, the location of the sun has been changed from rising in the north to east. However, the sunlight that displays on blocks are still from the north, despite the sun's altered location.

The lit part of the block is facing the north, and the side of where the sun's rising is east. Yet, the east side of the block appears darkly lit.

Version	Beta 1.8.1	1.0	1.21
Screenshot
Sun rise	North	East	East
Sun set	South	West	West
Lit block faces	North & South	North & South	North & South
Dark block faces	East & West	East & West	East & West